Page 44 of Make Me Bee-lieve

“Oh, good,” he murmurs. His chest rises and falls rapidly. Still trying to catch his breath, it seems. “I was worried you were going to tell me it was just ‘fine’ again.”

I laugh. “Oh, by the sun! No!” I snuggle up close to him and kiss a spot on his chest. “That wasn’t fine. That was my new favorite thing in the world. Again, thank you.”

He opens his mouth, like he’s about to argue against what I just said, but then has the good sense to reconsider. “You don’t have to thank me, Po. That was incredible for me, too.”

“Then it’s decided,” I say.

Calvin furrows his brows. “What is?”

I trail my fingers along his side and delight in his squirming. “We will do this again. Many, many more times.”

CALVIN

When morning comes, I scrub the crust from my eyes and let out a long yawn. Normally when I wake up, something hurts. My back, my neck, my hip. Sitting at a desk all day really hasn’t done any favors for my body. But instead of the expected achiness, I feel… good? Relaxed. Our night of love making should have left me sore. After all, we did some stuff I never thought I’d get around to doing for as long as I lived.

Polina is already awake and sitting on the top of one of the flower petals, staring out toward the horizon. I sit up and frown. Something is wrong.

“Po?” I murmur. “What is it, Sunshine?”

“They never came,” she says, her voice hollow and distant. “They never came back.”

My chest tightens. I knew this would probably be the case. That the worst would happen. My mother and brother say my eternal pessimism is one of my shittier traits, but I like to think I have realistic expectations. We witnessed the yellowjackets swarming the hive yesterday. We knew what the outcome would probably be. If any of the knights are still alive—at least, the ones who weren’t a part of the coup—then they’re probably in hiding right now. Or captured. Or worse.

“I really thought they would come,” she says again. She sounds like she’s on the verge of tears, so I quickly get to my feet and head over to her. But I can’t balance on the flower petals like she can; I can’t climb up to get her. A feeling of helplessness hits me, and my heart sinks into my stomach. How can I comfort her when she’s literally out of reach?

“Where should we head to now?” I ask. “Maybe the Pine Crest Hive?”

Po lets out a long, dejected sigh. “Yes. I suppose that will be our next course of action. But Evie is dead, and the Pine Crest Hive will be looking for blood. It might be dangerous for me to go there right now.”

My throat tightens. “They would harm you? But you and Evie were friends.”

She looks down at me, and her antennae droop. “Yes. That is the way of things, I’m afraid. A hive without a queen will be in turmoil for several weeks until they find or create a replacement.”

I shake my head as my hands ball into fists. “Then we’re not going there.”

“But Calvin?—”

When I look up at her, I notice her eyes are red-rimmed and sore from crying. “Can you come down here, please? So I can hug you, at the very least?”

She looks over her shoulder, down at me, but she doesn’t move from her spot. This isn’t good. I can tell she’s spiraling. And who could blame her? Given the circumstances, I think she’s handling things surprisingly well. But we can’t stay here. We can’t just … do nothing. If only we could get back to my apartment somehow and find my Shrinkatron so I could turn myself back to normal. Then I could forcibly evict the yellowjackets, Aunt Elza, and Florian.

“Po?” I call up to her again. She doesn’t answer, simply staring straight ahead. “We need to get back to my apartment. Can you carry us over there? Are your wings okay?”

Polina shifts around and arches an eyebrow. “Your apartment?” She blinks. “Oh! Your Shrinkimabob!”

I grin up at her, and don’t bother correcting her. “Exactly. We find that, and I can fix everything.”

She smiles at me, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” I ask.

There’s that sad smile again. The one that she puts on whenever there’s a load on her mind but she won’t share it. If only I could carry her burdens for her. “But how are we going to go about finding it? My scouts said they couldn’t find it.”

I shrug. “Yeah, and your hive also just overthrew you. I don’t think they’re all that reliable at the moment.”

“You’re suggesting that my scouts lied?” she asks.

I’ve heard stories, fables mostly, about the fae. How they can’t lie. But those can’t be real, can they? I’ve never read about bee fae ever existing, yet here they are. In the flesh.

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